Tens of thousands of people remained homeless in Colorado Springs on Wednesday, fixated on the smoky hills as the weather helped slow a Waldo Canyon fire that left a stunning path of destruction in its wake. An aerial photograph of the Mountain Shadows neighborhood that was taken Wednesday showed approximately 300 homes, all of them inside the Colorado Springs city limits, reduced to charred rubble. Colorado Springs authorities would not confirm exact numbers, saying they were still making assessments and devising a way to convey the information to affected homeowners.
One of the destroyed homes belonged to Ted Stefani and his wife, Kate. He learned its fate when he picked up The Denver Post on Wednesday. There, in the lower left.
"It's a good and bad thing," he said. "It's bad, because our house is gone.
"But at least we know."
The blaze, one of nine major wildfires burning in Colorado, continued to attract national attention Wednesday. The White House announced that President Barack Obama would visit the area Friday, when he is expected to tour the damaged neighborhoods and thank firefighters.
The blaze's cause was not known Wednesday, and the FBI joined the investigation, which was in its earliest stages.
The four-day-old fire that had grown to 18,500 acres smoldered throughout Wednesday, but cloud cover and shade from the smoke kept ground temperatures cooler than on previous days.
Firefighters had a containment line around about 5 percent of the burned area.
Late-afternoon winds fed by a nearby thunderstorm sent firefighters running for safety in the hillside neighborhoods they were protecting. But those gusts, which reached at least 20 mph, did not blow the fire into anything like the catastrophic event that terrorized the city Tuesday.
"There was smoldering going on up and down that ridge,"said Charlie Drennan, division chief of operations for the Denver Fire Department, one of 13 fire departments from around the region that were helping out on the fire.
Drennan's engine crew worked all night and day protecting homes in the Peregrine subdivision — hoses plugged into fire hydrants, snuffing out flare-ups and watching the wind.
Anxious homeowners who had been ushered out of their homes the day before sat in their cars in a parking lot east of Interstate 25 with a view of their neighborhood, watching as smoke billowed and trees caught fire around it and listening to emergency-radio traffic on a scanner.
"I'm just hoping nobody dies," said Seth Grotelueschen, listening as a Denver engine company protecting his home was ordered to leave in the face of a wall of flames.
About 32,000 people remained out of their homes Wednesday, and new evacuations were ordered in Teller County. Several neighborhoods in El Paso County were placed on pre-evacuation orders as fire managers closely watched the forecast.
Sandra Fales wiped away tears Wednesday morning as she pulled clothes for her three children from the trunk of her car. She and her children spent the night at the Red Cross shelter at the Southeast YMCA .
After watching the fire for hours, Fales was ordered to evacuate around 11 p.m. Tuesday.
"I watched it roll down the hill as it took out everything," Fales said. "The flames just took it all out."
In a neighborhood north of the Air Force Academy, families raced to pack up their cars afternoon after hearing that they should be prepared to flee.
The fire was still about 5 miles away, but the wind was blowing north.
"I'm just taking anything that is irreplaceable, photos, baby books," said Julie Gwisdalla as she loaded her SUV. "It's pretty scary to think your home is going to burn up."
For Stefani, an Army surgeon who returned from Afghanistan a month ago, the loss of his home came after a horrific time in which he fled the flames.
He was watching a televised news conference Tuesday about the fire when he noticed leaves rustling in the wind. He walked up the street to get a view of the mountain behind his home and saw flames a
mile away and moving fast.
With his wife and son in Denver, he rushed back to get their dog and pack some essential items: the title to their car, computer hard drives, birth certificates, some of his items from Iraq and Afghanistan, a baby blanket and clothes.
Embers and ash began falling and thick smoke covered the driveway. While he packed, his wife called.
"I can't talk," he said. "I need to load the car." His brief and rushed tone worried her.
"I don't scare easily," he said. "My wife knows that. I was in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I saw a lot of trauma there. But I sounded rattled."
On Tuesday night, the enormity of what had happened to him and his wife hit hard. They had to go and buy copies of the two books they read to their son each night, "Goodnight Moon" and "Pat the Bunny."
And they had to replace his favorite teddy bear that makes a noise when it's squeezed.
When their son squeezed the bear's belly and they heard that familiar sound, "that was pretty emotional. We both cried."
He said he feels lucky because he has insurance and an Army community that cares about him and his family. They are now looking for a new place to live and hope to lease something within a week.
"Then, it's starting over from scratch."
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
Denver Post staff writers Kurtis Lee, Tom McGhee, Jordan Steffen and Erin Udell contributed to this report.
Cash is king in aid of Waldo Canyon Fire victims
People are eager to help the thousands of people affected by the Waldo Canyon Fire burning in Colorado Springs. Please do not bring donations to shelters or command posts unless an official request is logged at inciweb.org. Here are some places seeking volunteers and financial assistance. More resources for evacuees are available at denverpost.com:
• El Paso County Sheriff's Office: Large-animal shelter at Norris-Penrose Equestrian Center needs volunteers: 719-520-7773.
• Pikes Peak Red Cross donations can be made at pparc.org.
• Goodwill donations can be made at discovermygoodwill.org .
• The Red Cross in Colorado Springs is at 719-632-3563. Those wanting to donate money to the Red Cross can go do so at redcross.org.
• Colorado Springs World Arena will serve as a drop-off point for donations of food (including canned tuna, peanut butter, protein bars and boxed meals) and personal-care items (including shaving cream, razors, deodorant and shampoo): 719-477-2100
• Waldo Canyon fire evacuees are encouraged to register as "safe and well" with the Red Cross program at safeandwell.org. Additionally, people worried about their loved ones can search for their names — and those of anyone evacuated from a Colorado wildfire zone — at the site.
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